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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23747704">Heavy Hearts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyostars/pseuds/galaxyostars'>galaxyostars</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The DMC Collection [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Devil May Cry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Brotherly Angst, DMC Hanami Week, Heartbreak, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, It's not as bad as it looks, Yamato - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:49:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,345</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23747704</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyostars/pseuds/galaxyostars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dante crossed his arms. “Vergil, you asked me to come here to help you look for ‘answers’. But I don’t know what your questions are.”</p><p>The fire crackled, wood popping, echoing across the forestland. Vergil remained still, hands relaxed on his lap.</p><p>“Something changed after you had that talk with Nero,” Dante said. “And I think we’re here because of his mother.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dante &amp; Vergil (Devil May Cry)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The DMC Collection [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1387243</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>69</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Heavy Hearts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/3QGQSlsNMQgLWWItplukEk?si=WKhHo5l-SgqIMqdvVx5Ypg">Heavy Hearts by Paul Dyason was a huge inspiration behind this piece.</a>
</p><p> </p><p>Worth a look.</p><p>TRIGGER WARNING: This piece includes reference to assumed sexual assault/rape. It's not explicitly stated, but heavily implied.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vie de Marli was an excellent island for campfires. The village civilisation left little pollution in the sky – there were stars for miles, doing a better job illuminating the area than the fire itself. Dante’s boots crunched along the grassland as he approached Vergil. His brother had taken up meditating (again) – if Dante hadn’t known any better, he’d have thought the man asleep.</p><p>Dante paused for a moment, watching his brother. He glanced down to the shadows being cast on his own feet, before stretching his arms high into the air and yawning. “You spooked the Protectorate pretty good out there,” he said, collapsing to the ground next to Vergil. Dante leaned back on his elbows. “More so than usual.”</p><p>He didn’t expect an answer from Vergil. It was a trivial issue, really, not something Vergil really cared all that much about. Lucia had approached Dante earlier that day, asking about his brother – "<em>Why does he act like a ghost?” </em>Honestly, Dante had noticed the demeanour as well, but he hadn’t wanted to raise the issue. Vergil fluttered along the ground in battle these days with something else on his mind entirely. Originally, Dante figured it was all to do with Nero. He’d been teaching the kid the basics of Yamato – a big step for Vergil, sharing his things with others, and there was bound to be some pushback from it… but after Nero had his ‘talk’ with Vergil, Dante had an inkling it might be something else.</p><p>Then his brother had dragged him here to Vie de Marli. It was nice to be berated by Matier and get the cold shoulder from Lucia again, but this being Vergil’s gig, he wasn’t exactly sure how he was meant to be conducting himself.</p><p>Dante crossed his arms. “Vergil, you asked me to come here to help you look for ‘answers’. But I don’t know what your questions are.”</p><p>The fire crackled, wood popping, echoing across the forestland. Vergil remained still, hands relaxed on his lap.</p><p>“Something changed after you had that talk with Nero,” Dante said. “And I think we’re here because of his mother.”</p><p>One of Vergil’s fingers twitched ever so slightly. Dante took that as a hint he was on the right track. Though, part of him wished he wasn’t. His assumptions about Nero’s mother had varied wildly based on the limited information Lady had dug up years ago, but he’d adjusted them somewhat based on Vergil’s reaction to Nero. At first, Dante had figured it was a basic story: Vergil appeared in Fortuna, caught the heart of a pretty girl, then broke her heart to raise Temen-ni-gru. But after their chat, Nero slashed most of that theory in half, leaving Dante with a theory far more disturbing than he was willing to admit to Vergil’s son.</p><p>“I’m gonna shoot out some ideas I have about what happened. You don’t have to acknowledge them; you don’t have to answer,” Dante breathed. “But I want you to know that these are the assumptions I’m operating under.”</p><p>Vergil’s chin lowered, his eyebrows pinched together.</p><p>“I think Nero’s mother lived in Fortuna.”</p><hr/><p>
  <em>“Everything’s so weird here,” Nero had said to him when he set foot in Red Grave for the first time on a mobile job. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Pretty streetlamps getting to you?” Dante joked with an amused grin, kicking his feet up onto his desk as Nero glanced out the window. </em>
</p><p><em>Nero had frowned at him for that. “We have streetlights in Fortuna. It’s just… I get why you live here. The atmosphere… I was born and raised in Fortuna, and in all that time, I never felt this kind of </em>life<em> there. It’s… it’s kind of infectious.”</em></p><p>
  <em>Dante smiled. “It has its moments.”</em>
</p><hr/><p>“I think she believed in, or worked for, the Order of the Sword.”</p><hr/><p>
  <em>Lady tossed a thin folder onto his desk, standing with her arms crossed. “Our new ‘friend’ reminded me of someone.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Blue eyes glanced down to the folder, but he didn’t touch it. That kind of ‘information’ was too over the top for him. Reading about targets wasn’t a necessity he’d needed to concern himself with. “’Reminded you’ of someone?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She hesitated, resting a hand on her pistol. “It’s a long story. But I did some digging, checking up on him – since you so kindly left him Yamato.” There was a moment of silent judgement from Lady, her piercing eyebrows cocked toward him – but she continued. “He’s an orphan, taken in by a family from the Order of the Sword.”</em>
</p><p><em>Dante rolled his eyes. “</em>I <em>could have told you that much.”</em></p><p>
  <em>“Maybe. But you couldn’t tell me records of his placement were destroyed. Order of the Sword blacked out his birth parents – a father is never mentioned, but his mother…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Classic ‘left on the doorstep’ tale?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lady shrugged. “Something like that.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So what’s the problem?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why deliberately hide evidence of his mother’s existence?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dante hesitated. There could be several reasons – two of them he could cite because of Patty’s situation alone. Plus, this was an isolated community: if Nero’s mother truly was a prostitute, then of course the Order might frown upon that information being spread to the rest of Fortuna.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But that was the thing. Why did the Order of the Sword go out of their way to hide that? It was just a petulant rumour that plagued Nero, nothing concrete. No one actually knew of his origins. There was no reason for the Order to hide Nero’s mother, not until Nero joined them, and even then… the kid spoke of everyday harassment by older members looking down on him with pointed noses. If they were trying to hide his background, they were doing a bad job of it.</em>
</p><p><em>Nero didn’t need was </em>Lady<em> harassing him about things he hadn’t considered overly important to his everyday life.</em></p><p>
  <em>“Let dead things lie,” Dante spoke smoothly.</em>
</p><hr/><p>“I think the only way she would have met you is if she knew a lot about Sparda.”</p><hr/><p>
  <em>“How’d the handoff go?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“As expected,” Trish said, leaning her back against a tree. Her eyes flashed yellow in the cover of darkness. “They’re suspicious but delighted to see the Sparda with their own eyes.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dante hummed in response. He wasn’t overly thrilled with the plan, having some reservations about handing over his father’s demonic weapon (presumably of choice) to a highly religious order apparently worshipping him as God. But he trusted Trish. “Glad to hear it.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“They’re handing it over to their top researcher. Agnus.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m sure he must be enamoured with you by now.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“He can’t see past his own nose,” she scoffed, but the pensive look on her face showed something more behind her perplexed attitude.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The devil hunter rose an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. “Disappointed?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No,” Trish drawled. “Just curious. Angus is ‘new’ at the job… but the Order constitutes ‘sixteen years’ as ‘new’. I’m interested to know who would have made such a lasting impression that Agnus still can’t live up to expectations despite the time put in.”</em>
</p><hr/><p>“I think she helped you find what you were looking for in Fortuna.” Dante stopped, finally looking at Vergil properly. “I think she hurt you.”</p><p>His brother’s eyes flashed open, but the dark slayer made no other move. Dante sighed quietly, threading his fingers together.</p><p>“I think you don’t want to admit she hurt you, because you believe doing so gives her some kind of power over you.”</p><p>“<em>Dante</em>.”</p><p>Vergil’s hands had grasped Yamato’s scabbard, his breathing sharp. Dante stopped, allowing him the silence he wanted. He reached out to a woodpile, gazing over a block of wood while he waited – and despite the impression of a lack of attention, all his focus was purely on Vergil.</p><p>Each of Vergil’s fingers slowly unfurled from Yamato. His voice was quiet, quivering somewhat as he spoke. “Her name was Eden.”</p><p>Dante tossed the log onto the fire and rubbed his hands together. He’d had his time. It was Vergil’s turn to talk.</p><p>“I needed information on Force Edge. She had it.” He closed his eyelids once more, drawing a deep breath in. “She… manipulated me.”</p><p><em>Shit</em>. Dante’s shoulders fell. Vergil’s words left him with many burning questions. <em>How</em> had she manipulated him, and for <em>how long</em>? Just how deep does <em>this</em> trauma go? Was she still alive? Could Dante enact rightful justice? Did Vergil <em>want</em> them to enact rightful justice?</p><p>How does this affect Nero? He felt nausea in the pit of his stomach – he had to sit upright. Working through the mirid of thoughts he had now was more taxing than he thought it’d be. He had the impression <em>something</em> had happened to have resulted in Nero. When he’d told Vergil, he hadn’t recoiled in distress, he’d thought back on it somewhat fondly! Dante’s impression had been that their relationship, if there <em>was</em> a relationship, was <em>mutual</em>. He hadn’t thought it’d be-</p><p>“I know what you’re thinking,” Vergil drawled. “She would not stoop so low to abuse in such a manner.”</p><p><em>Famous last words</em>. Regardless, Dante suppressed his relieved sigh. The nausea dissipated, but only slightly. It left in its place swirls of adrenaline, feelings of concern for his brother he didn’t think he’d ever have. “I know its poor consolation, but that is comforting to know.”</p><p>Vergil hummed in response. Silence continued to infect the forest, smoke from their small fire clouding the starlight.</p><p>“Vergil, nothing you say here will get back to Nero,” Dante looked to him. “I want you to tell me what happened.”</p><p>He sighed, stretching out of his cross-legged position. “There’s nothing to say.”</p><p>“Vergil-”</p><p>“She was not interested in me. Years of hindsight as made that clear. She was interested in Yamato. The Order of the Sword wanted a saviour – she believed Yamato was the quickest way to get it,” he glanced away. “She eventually got what she’d wanted.”</p><p><em>Ironic</em>, Dante scoffed to himself. Eden and Vergil had been working toward the same goal, just through different means, different motivations. Temen-ni-gru was the accumulation of years of Vergil’s bitterness and the ongoing manipulation of Arkham. The Saviour was a collective choice, an expression of communal power with a hierarchy. </p><p>Only, Vergil hadn’t gotten what he wanted. And though Vergil had just stated to the contrary, Eden was presumably not present during the rise of the Saviour. Dante had to assume she hadn’t gotten what she wanted either.</p><p>“How did Yamato end up with the Order?” Dante asked. “I remember you had it. It was in your hand. You slashed me with it.”</p><p>“A formidable sword-smith knows how to shave slithers from the weapons they hold dear,” Vergil turned his head slightly, unsheathing Yamato just enough to gaze at his distorted reflection. “She had its slither. I imagine she or someone else called it back to the human world while I was under Mundus’ control.”</p><p>The Order having a slither of Yamato explained a surprising number of things. Yamato could be recalled to its wielder with its scabbard – not that Vergil cared for such abilities – but it was reasonable to assume one could make that command with a piece of Yamato’s blade. If Mundus had broken the sword, it would have arrived in pieces – but what happened to the slither? Had Eden still been around to keep it? And then, of course…</p><p>“You said you wanted the questions I needed answered,” Vergil finally said. “Balrog came into the human world here on Dumaray because he had a piece of Yamato.”</p><p>“You think Balrog used the same piece Eden took?”</p><p>“Possibly. I won’t know until I reopen the portal he used. I’m uncertain how damaged Yamato was before Nero repaired it. I’ve no way of knowing if her piece returned to it.”</p><p>“You don’t feel a difference?”</p><p>Vergil’s face turned sour. “I didn’t wield Yamato for decades. Then I squandered it when I returned. At first I assumed I <em>could</em> sense a difference, but… I’m of the impression that may just be my age catching up with me.”</p><p>Dante smirked. “Guess you’re not <em>totally</em> ageless after all.”</p><p>“Evidently.”</p><p>Weight lifted from Dante’s shoulders. He was thankful for this – truly, utterly thankful he could have a solid conversation with his brother without one of them drawing blood. When Nero spoke of communication with Kyrie and Credo, Dante had seen it as nothing but a pipe dream. His family wasn’t the usual kind.</p><p>Maybe they didn’t <em>have</em> to be.</p><p>“Dante,” Vergil throat bobbed. “My time with Eden… I’m not willing to be manipulated like that again. Eden made me… She was my equal. She was not like you, or Nero, or… anyone. And she cast me away so easily.”</p><p>If Dante didn’t know any better, he’d have called what Vergil was feeling “heartbreak”. He remained silent.</p><p>“Our time together in hell has made me more receptive to your presence, but…”</p><p>“You’d rather hold us at arm’s length.”</p><p><em>I’m perfectly capable of handling this on my own</em>. Dante refused to let him handle the Qliphoth alone. He would continue to refuse. Not because he didn’t think Vergil couldn’t do such things himself, but because he didn’t <em>have</em> to do such things himself. Vergil was a pain in the ass at the best of times, but he was <em>Dante</em>’s pain in the ass. That was a lifetime commitment.</p><p>“It’s okay to do that, Vergil,” Dante leaned back again, satisfied his brother had gotten at least <em>enough</em> of his problem off his chest. “But I’m not letting you disappear this time. Not just for me, but for Nero, too.”</p><p>A decade without Vergil, only to have him back for a moment, before losing him again for <em>another</em> twenty years. They’d caused each other pain over and over – and though Vergil hid a lot, Dante could see it in the way he held himself outside of iaido. He was as comfortable as Dante was in an unfamiliar crowd – that was to say, not at all.</p><p>Dante didn’t know everything he’d wanted to know about Eden, or even Vergil’s time with Mundus. But this was enough.</p>
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